


Stagecraft

by Mogseltof



Series: JazzWave Week 2020 [2]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Almost Caught, Autobot Soundwave, Double Agents, JazzWave Week, M/M, Secret Relationships, Secrets, Spy Nonsense, Spying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:14:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27062506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mogseltof/pseuds/Mogseltof
Summary: My other offering for JazzWave Week! Day 7 "Legacy".The identities of the Autobot spies in Decepticon ranks are a closely guarded secret--so close, in fact, that the head of Autobot Special Operations doesn't even know for sure who's who. When Megatron finds out someone close to him is a double-crosser, however, it results in a very close shave, and a very neat surprise for Jazz.
Relationships: Jazz/Soundwave (Transformers)
Series: JazzWave Week 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1968007
Comments: 6
Kudos: 63
Collections: Jazzwave Week 2020





	Stagecraft

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fadedlikethelilac](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fadedlikethelilac/gifts).



Once upon a time, he’d heard, the onboarding process for new Autobot recruits had been a fairly straightforward, unchaotic process. Not for himself much less anyone he’d brought into the fold, but like, people had _said—_

He was remembering that dissonance between ‘said’ and ‘experienced’ right now as Prime showed him the office that had belonged to his predecessor. 

“We called her Flareblaze,” explained Prime as Jazz took in the wreck of a room. The desk was impressively split where something (or some _one)_ had been slammed into it. A datapad crunched underfoot, and Jazz looked down to see the flickering screen of error messages, scanning the room again with a passive coolness as Prime continued speaking. “We’re not sure how ‘real’ that designation was, not that it matters. We’re not a hundred percent certain what happened, but from what we can gather she’d been locating our existing double agents within Decepticon ranks and removing them.”

“And one of them figured out, huh,” said Jazz, pushing through the pile of datapads on the more upright half of the desk, uncovering error message after error message. “A real spy-versus-spy mess.”

This job was gonna give him recharge fluxes, he could already tell.

Prime handed him a datapad. It had a list of coordinates and timestamps, and when Jazz checked, that was the only file on it. “That’s the only thing we were able to recover,” said Prime, sounding apologetic, as though he’d personally come through and wiped the pads himself. Although, he might have in places. Jazz wouldn’t be trusting after something like this, himself. “You’ll be starting from scratch I’m afraid.”

“Not totally,” said Jazz with a shrug, scrolling through the coordinates in front of him. “I’ve got drop sites, and my existing team. Think that’s plenty to be starting with.”

“Of course,” said Prime, polite instead of showing his disbelief. “Best of luck.”

Jazz gave him a crooked smile instead of answering. He was gonna need it after all.

* * *

_-Jazz!-_

Mirage had a rare urgency in the glyphs accompanying the comm. Jazz exited his conversation without a word, leaving a very sarcastic Smokescreen in his wake, and transformed halfway through a stride, ignoring Prowl’s strictly enforced shipside speed limit as he made for the entrance to the ARK. 

Officer perks, suckers. 

Mirage’s transmission was continuing, throwing millenia of carefully curated safety protocols to the proverbial wind in the name of speed. _-We have a problem—Megatron knows about your best leak-_

 _-Who and how?-_ Jazz took the last corner without braking, making someone in red (people needed to develop more taste and _diversity_ in their paint schemes, honestly) jump back and ping him angrily. 

_-No answer to either. He’s set up a false drop, personal, hasn’t told a single member of Decepticon high command.-_

Because he knows it’s one of them, Jazz filled in for himself grimly. This was the downside of not knowing the identity of your leaks—while they couldn’t be discovered from his end, he couldn’t swoop in and warm them either. _-Give me the drop.-_

Mirage passed him the coordinates as they sailed past each other through the entrance of the ARK in alt. They skimmed past each other, so close Jazz could feel the spike of irritation in Mirage’s field as Red Alert registered his return to base and hit him with the speeding demerits he couldn’t give Jazz. His own speed doubled as his tires hit gravel and forced him to lean in and counteract the spinning out. He didn’t have much time. 

Even foregoing his own approach to stealth to focus on pushing his speedometer past the red, Jazz barely made it. Jazz transformed while still in motion once more as he barreled up the road and into the long-abandoned lookout, slamming his ‘hide now’ protocols into place as he bodily tackled the mech at the top through the old fence and down the cliff on the other side. 

Soundwave’s weapons system had thrummed to life the instant Jazz tackled him, shifting quickly to retaliate the perceived attack. Jazz shifted through communications bands as fast as he could, trying to find one Soundwave would _listen_ to him on even as they bounced down the sheer cliff face. Ratchet was going to _murder_ him for what this was doing to his suspension—

Distinctive jet engines screamed overhead and Soundwave stiffened, immediately kicking in his own stealth protocols and offlining his weapons. 

They hit the ground and separated in a clatter of plating that was thankfully masked by the noise of Megatron landing and transforming. Soundwave took Jazz’s proffered hand wordlessly, allowing himself to be tugged into the welcome cover of trees around them. 

The sound of Megatron shifting around with the whine of his fusion cannon accompanied the frankly intimate way the two of them shrunk together in the foliage, and Jazz had to suppress some _highly_ inappropriate laughter at the whole thing. Fucking _Soundwave._ _Soundwave._ If he ever got to tell Mirage—

It took a while for Megatron to give up and take off, enough time that Jazz had rather definitely pinched a cable and he was about ninety eight percent certain Soundwave was going to have a hell of a time getting any kind of feeling back into his shoulder. Nevertheless, neither of them moved for several minutes after the sound of Megatron’s engines faded. 

Jazz was the first to break the silence. “You know, you could’ve mentioned this at like _any point_ in the time we’ve been fragging.”

“Unnecessary,” said Soundwave, giving him the glyph equivalent of a shrug. 

Jazz didn’t quite manage to hold back the laughter at that, slumping forward and lifting his weight off Soundwave. “Right. Course it is,” he said, grinning at him. 

Soundwave reached out a hand to catch Jazz’s arm. “Trust _earned,”_ he said urgently. 

Jazz turned his arm the other way up and clasped Soundwave’s, leaning in close enough to kiss. “I know,” he said mildly. “I saw how many guys my predecessor took care of, you don’t have to explain this shit to me.”

Soundwave squeezed his hand and there was the soft sound of his faceplate unlatching before his stiff lips pressed into Jazz’s. Jazz bumped their foreheads together affectionately as the faceplate slid back over Soundwave’s mouth. “Least you know I definitely like you proper,” he murmured, pinging him with a softer teasing glyph than he’d usually use. 

Soundwave pinged him back with gentle humour and regret. “Time up. Must return; cannot elicit more suspicion.” 

Jazz squeezed his hand again before drawing back. “I know. Let me know if you need an intervention,” or an extraction, neither of them said. “You remember how to set up the old temporary secure lines?” 

Soundwave nodded, climbing to his feet. “Safe drive.”

“Where’s the fun in that,” said Jazz drily, mostly to himself, as he watched Soundwave disappear into the trees. It was always nice to know he could still be surprised by a lover, in the best kind of way.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Lilac for the bunny for this fic! That makes both the JazzWaves I've tossed your way double agent spy nonsense--your taste remains impeccable ;)
> 
> Hope everyone had a good JazzWave week, I sure did! Sail the good ship onward, my dudes.


End file.
